Couple of Teenagers
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day seven hundred and five: Shelby dating Emmett in secret from people is fun for them both.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 33rd cycle. Now cycle 34!_

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><p><strong>Hear that little bird twitter!<strong> _Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!_

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><p><strong>"Couple of Teenagers"<br>Shelby & Beth, Emmett & Joanie, Shelby/Emmett  
>Sequel to 'One Step At A Time' <strong>

One date had turned into two, then three… One week passed, and then another… They were still not ready to tell Joanie, taking it slow, but that only worked for so long. Yes, time was going by, and it was going… so well…

Barring Beth coming into her life, she doubted she'd ever felt as happy as she did now. Emmett had always been exactly what he presented himself to be… a gentleman, kind, cheerful… He and Joanie had made her life become so much more than it could have been. And now that they were dating, even if it was in secret, it was getting harder and harder to keep that on the inside. According to everyone at work she had never smiled so much in the weeks since their first date. She couldn't help it… Sneaking around with him could have seemed… juvenile… unnecessary…

She couldn't get enough of it.

It started with that first date. The next morning, when Emmett came to get Joanie, she had asked if they could all have breakfast together before they all went on with their day. Emmett had looked to Shelby, and she smirked, agreeing. Joanie had been sitting in between, quietly looking from one end to the other, making herself chew so she wouldn't chuckle – they didn't see that.

Two weeks later, meeting at the mailboxes, Emmett asked her out for what would be their sixth date. The second had been disguised as a couple of neighbors going to the movies together. The third hadn't so much been a date as it had been Shelby asking him over to fix her attic door, and then a kiss, and then another, slower, and then they'd lost count… up until they heard Joanie call from downstairs and they startled, laughed, and both gestured for the other to stay quiet. One last kiss, hair straightened, and they went on their way. The fourth had been lunch, which he brought to her at work and they ate at her desk. The fifth, the previous one, had been cut short when Joanie had called about Beth having a fever. But he had come with her, to help look after the baby. They had spent the night in the nursery.

"Will you be bringing your book again?" she teased.

"I've only got thirty-something pages left," he threw back, getting a smile for it. "Actually, I was thinking we needed to make up for last time. And Joanie is going to a sleepover, so we shouldn't need to… sneak around," he explained.

"Right," she nodded slowly, looking back to his house, seeing Joanie in the window, waving at her. Shelby waved back, turning back to Emmett. "What did you have in mind?" she asked, trying to keep cool since they were 'under surveillance' and that could make her anxious…

"Maybe we could take it easy, while we can… We'll have the house…" he suggested.

"That might actually be just what I need… I mean I know she's fine now, but I'll feel better knowing Beth's nearby. I'll have to get a sitter, you know, my regular sitter is kind of busy that night…" she played, and he nodded.

"I think I still have a number somewhere, from back in the day when my girl wasn't old enough to be the babysitter," he nodded. "She's great, she's like a miracle worker."

"Good, those are good."

After Joanie had been picked up by her friend, Megan, Shelby had checked in on Beth. The babysitter, Julia, had already gotten her laughing like she'd known her forever. This was the first time she left her with a stranger though, and after a few more hugs, and kisses, she put her Beth back in her crib and made the crossing over to Emmett's. They had dinner – he cooked – and then in the spirit of 'taking it easy,' they had settled in front of the television. He had his arm around her, she had her head on his shoulder… She felt so warm and happy, she could have stayed right there…

The next morning, Shelby had gone with Emmett to pick up Joanie from her friend's house, and once again she was met with a request for breakfast… later she'd come to refer to this as 'Joanie's situation report.' Emmett offered to take them all to breakfast at the diner, and they were off. Once again, Joanie sat in the middle, with Beth in the seat next they'd placed next to her. "Did you have fun at your sleepover?" Shelby asked her, looking at the menu.

"Yeah, I'd never really been to one before, not where there was more than one of us there. Sarah tried to start a pillow fight and then she just clocked Laurie in the head, knocked her glasses off!" Joanie motioned excitedly. "She was okay, but then they didn't want to do it anymore. So we just played around, and we danced… And how was your sleepover?" The question came right out of nowhere, Shelby nearly choked on her coffee, and Emmett fumbled with his fork. Joanie smirked.

"I'm sorry?" Shelby coughed.

"Joanie…" Emmett did the same.

"Oh, please," Joanie snorted, taking a mouthful of pancake. "You two aren't fooling anyone, least of all me. Also I called your house last night and Julia picked up, told me you were at my place." Shelby didn't know where to look, but then she heard a chuckle and looked up to find Emmett trying not to laugh. "So did you guys…" Joanie went on, trailing off and letting them fill in the blanks.

"Woah, okay, we're talking now, we're talking…" Emmett's laughter stalled, looking at his daughter. Joanie looked from her father to Shelby and back. The more they refused to look to one another, to her, the wider her eyes grew until she let out a squeak. Of all the things, this made Shelby burst out laughing. "Honey, you're not…" Emmett tried to find the words, looking to Joanie.

"What, freaking out? I know how it works," she shrugged. Shelby was still laughing, while Emmett didn't know how to speak anymore. "So can we stop with the sneaking around? I've been freaking out and I couldn't tell anyone!"

"I, yeah… no more sneaking around, we swear," Shelby nodded, once she was able to catch her breath, some laughter still escaping her.

The rest of the breakfast made for awkward conversation, and when Joanie went off to the bathroom – with a quick hug to both her father and Shelby – Emmett looked back across the table. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it all to…"

"Please, it's fine," Shelby smiled. "She was going to find out eventually… or I should say we were going to find out she already knew eventually…" This got him laughing again. Shelby hadn't known how things would go after the night before – Joanie had seen right through them, every step of the way – but now there they were… She wouldn't really miss the sneaking around, if she was honest with herself. She loved Emmett, and now everyone would know, especially those who mattered most, Joanie, and Emmett, too.

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


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